Israel orders people to flee Beirut as Sri Lanka evacuates crew of second Iranian navy ship

LAST UPDATE | 13 hrs ago

ISRAEL HAS ISSUED an unprecedented evacuation warning for the entirety of Beirut’s southern suburbs, sending residents in the district of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing in a panic.

It comes as an Iranian state-run foundation said the death toll from US and Israeli strikes has risen to 1,230.

Israel’s military today said it had “just begun a large-scale wave of strikes against infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime across Tehran”.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has accused Iran of “terrorism” and threatened retaliation after four people were wounded in drone attacks which Iran has denied responsibility for.

The war has so far drawn in global powers, snarled shipping and rattled energy markets.

Lebanon

Lebanon was dragged into the conflict on Monday, when militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the US-Israeli strikes that launched the war.

Israel responded with air strikes and sent ground troops into some Lebanese border villages, and told residents of a large area of south Lebanon to leave in anticipation of military operations there.

In a message today to the residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, an Israeli military spokesman said: “Save your lives and evacuate your residences immediately.”

Such warnings typically foreshadow large-scale attacks, and massive traffic jams formed on the outskirts of the suburbs, as people fired guns in the air, urging locals to leave as soon as possible.

Lebanese authorities say at least 72 people have been killed, 437 wounded and 83,000 displaced from their homes since Monday.

Azerbaijan

On Iran’s borders, neighbour Azerbaijan warned that a drone attack on its airport “will not go unanswered”, raising fears of another country entering the war that has engulfed the region.

Iran’s armed forces denied being behind the strike, and a general of the armed forces said: “Such actions by the Zionist regime, aimed at disrupting relations between Muslim countries in various ways, are not unprecedented.”

However, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev accused Iran of “terrorism” and threatened retaliation after four people were wounded in today’s drone attacks on the airport and near a school.

“Today a terrorist act was carried out from the Iranian side against the territory of Azerbaijan,” Aliyev told a security council meeting.

Azerbaijan’s military “have been instructed to prepare and carry out retaliatory measures” and “placed on mobilisation level number one, and must be ready to conduct any operation,” he added.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka today evacuated 208 crew members of an Iranian navy vessel, a day after a US submarine struck and sank another Iranian frigate, killing dozens of sailors.

Sri Lanka’s navy will also take over the second vessel and shift it to the northeastern port of Trincomalee for safe keeping, amid fears that it could be a target of attack.

“We are not taking sides in this conflict, but while maintaining our neutrality we are taking action to save lives,” President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said in a televised statement.

“No person should die in a war like this. Every life is equally precious.”

The Sri Lankan navy will crew the IRIS Bushehr, which had reported a fault with one of its engines, while the Iranian crew and cadets aboard will be transferred ashore for safety.

IRIS Dena, the frigate that was attacked yesterday, was unarmed as it was returning from a naval exercise in the Indian port city of Visakhapatnam, Iran’s ambassador to India Mohammad Fathali said.

Earlier Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denounced the attack and warned Washington it would “bitterly regret” establishing such a precedent.

Iranian strikes

The conflict has not spared the rich Gulf monarchies, usually seen as a safe haven in a volatile region.

Thirteen people, seven of them civilians, have been killed in countries around the Gulf since the war began, including an 11-year-old girl in Kuwait.

Qatar today said it intercepted an incoming missile attack as loud blasts, described by journalists in the country as the most intense yet, reverberated across Doha, where a thick column of black smoke billowed across the horizon.

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It had earlier evacuated residents living near the US embassy in Doha, after previously thwarting attacks on Hamad International Airport.

Falling debris from an intercepted drone also injured six people in Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, officials said.

Meanwhile, some Western diplomats in the Saudi capital Riyadh were told today to shelter in place, and it’s understood that the diplomatic quarter in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, had been closed off.

‘Dialogue and diplomacy’

Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee today participated in a virtual meeting of EU Foreign Ministers.

EU Ministers were joined by the Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

After the meeting, McEntee said the attacks by Iran are “deeply concerning”.

“They have not attacked Iran,” said McEntee.

“We have seen attacks on airports, residential buildings and energy infrastructure in Gulf countries. These are violations of international law.”

She called for a “return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy to address legitimate international concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme and its destabilising influence in the region”.

McEntee further remarked that “our priority continues to be the safety of our citizens living in the Gulf region and those who have been caught up by flight disruptions”.

UK and US ‘special relationship’

British prime minister Keir Starmer again defended his handling of the US-Israeli war against Iran after US president Donald Trump launched a scathing attack over his initial refusal to allow the Americans to use UK air bases.

On Tuesday, Trump said of Starmer in the Oval Office of the White House: “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”

Starmer – who told the UK parliament on Monday his government “does not believe in regime change from the skies” – drew Trump’s wrath by initially refusing to have any role in Washington’s war with Iran.

He later agreed to a US request to use two British military bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose”.

At a press briefing today, Starmer said the “special relationship is in operation right now,” and pointed to examples of cooperation around joint bases and sharing intelligence.

Starmer added that Trump makes decisions in the US national interest, while he makes decisions in the UK national interest and remarked that “there’s nothing controversial about that”.

Meanwhile, Trump has told Axios that he needs to be personally involved in selecting Iran’s next leader — just as he was in Venezuela.

While Trump acknowledged that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei, is the most likely successor, he said this is “unacceptable to me”.

Asked on Tuesday who could replace Khamenei, Trump replied: ”Most of the people we had in mind are dead.”

European response

Outside the UK, other European countries wary of getting directly involved in the US-Israeli war with Iran are nevertheless being drawn into the conflict following attacks on Cyprus and Western allies in the Gulf.

France is sending its flagship aircraft carrier – the Charles de Gaulle – to the eastern Mediterranean. The carrier has 20 Rafale fighter jets on board along with two Hawkeye radar aircraft.

French President Emmanuel Macron has also said Paris will dispatch additional air defence units to Cyprus.

Italy has also said it will send “naval assets” to Cyprus in the coming days along with France, the Netherlands and Spain. Rome has also pledged “air-defence, anti-drone and anti-missile systems” to partners in the Gulf.

Despite making clear his opposition to the war and not yet allowing the US use its military bases, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has nevertheless said it will send its most advanced frigate – the Cristobal Colon – to protect Cyprus.

‘Period of flux’

Elsewhere, it was warned today by International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva that the war could usher in a “prolonged period of flux” for the global economy.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have claimed the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf chokepoint through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil flows, with oil tanker transits down 90%, according to market intelligence firm Kpler.

Meanwhile, Danish shipping giant Maersk yesterday said it was suspending bookings in the Gulf until further notice.

Iran today said it had hit an oil tanker in the Gulf with a missile setting the vessel on fire, though the incident has yet to be independently confirmed.

-With additional reporting from © AFP 2026 

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